What Could Vandal Savage Possibly be Doing in Wisconsin?
by Wisconsin-girl19
Summary: The teams lands in Wisconsin in 1897 because Rip finds some intriguing evidence about a ferocious monster that is going to be displayed at the county fair. Rip is sure that Vandal Savage must have something to do the monster's creation and hopes that the exhibit will lead them straight to where Savage is hiding.
**So I just came up with this idea the other day and decided to write it down. Hope you guys enjoy!**

* * *

"Will these side effects ever stop?" Jax complained as he fell to the floor for what felt like the millionth time. The Waverider had successfully just landed in what looked like a clearing in the middle of the woods and he was merely trying to stretch his legs when the vertigo took over.

Rip nodded as he seamlessly exited his chair and made his way to the center console, "You'll be happy to know Mr. Jackson that the chances of experiencing side effect lowers every time one time travels."

"It only took me five trips as Kronos to stop experiencing side effects," Mick added from his seat. He lifted the harness above his head but stayed put. He didn't see any need to crowd around the table, he knew that Rip would only tell certain bits of information that he thought would help them most with the mission anyway. If he showed them any pictures or important documents, Mick could easily get them from Gideon later.

Jax rolled his eyes at the ex-arsonist as his vertigo finally subsided. Once he could feel his feet again, he stood up and made his way to the center console where he faced Mick and replied, "Good for you, but the rest of us—we still get them."

Martin tried to add to the conversation but he was suffering from Linguistic Dysplasia and no one could quite make out what he meant when he said, "Tery jrue Vivirsin. Kno that're hoing ere?"

Sara smiled as she patted him on the shoulder and then joined the rest of the team, excluding Mick, who were all standing around the table. "So where are we?"

"And when are we?" Ray added as he wrapped his arm around Kendra. He directed his attention toward Rip and the spot where Gideon's electronic head would soon appear. As he did that, he didn't notice Kendra was stepping away from him. Too much had been going on lately and she hadn't processed anything her old self from the Wild West had told her. Kendra told herself that she was doing it so she wouldn't hurt Ray's feelings in the long run but a part of her knew that she was doing it because it still felt like she was still cheating on Carter.

Rip tapped the screen on the table top, which brought up a blurry picture of a newspaper and then started, "To answer your question Mr. Palmer. The year is 1897 and it seems that we have landed somewhere in Northern Wisconsin."

"Awe Wisconsin!" Leonard started, "I heard that it's cold here 10 months out of the year."

"Why would someone want to live in such a place?" Sara asked.

Ray turned toward her with a confused look on his face, "But isn't it like that in Tibet? That's where you were recruited from right?"

"Anyway back to the topic at hand," Rip added, "Sorry to disappoint Mr. Snart, it seems that we've landed in early August and it's quite nice out. Gideon, where exactly did we land?"

Just like Ray suspected, Gideon's head appeared above the table and stated, "We have landed approximately 3 miles south of the town of Rhinelander. It has been reported that the city's first fair is being held today." Mick's eyebrows rose and he leaned towards the group in order to hear more. In his opinion, fairs in the late 1800s were always interesting. He had witnessed a few of them while on assignments from the Time Masters and he expected that this one join the list of strange fairs he visited while time traveling.

Kendra peered at the newspaper on the table and couldn't help but ask, "Why are we here? I never took Vandal Savage for the fair type."

"Well, I think it's safe to say that we never imagined him as the small town doctor type who liked to experiment on his patients either." Ray added, "Who knows what he's capable of."

"Exactly and according to what Gideon could decipher from the photograph of this paper, the fair is going to be the town's first chance to see Gene Shepherd's Hodag." Rip continued.

"What wait?" Sara asked while Jax wondered, "What's a Hodag?"

Rip tapped the table once more and then answered, "According to a different newspaper Gideon dug up, it's a ferocious beast that was captured in the woods. Apparently Mr. Shepherd has been keeping it in his barn and agreed to exhibit it at the fair."

"I don't know," Mick started as he made his way to the table and leaned on his elbows, "I've traveled all over the timeline while working for the Time Masters and I've never heard of this Hodag."

"Neither have I," Rip told him, "but all signs points to Savage. Chances are he found another meteor, tested it on an animal and now is making a profit off of it."

"How do you know that it's not just a kid pulling a prank?" Leonard asked, "Like the boy who cried wolf? Savage is a lot of things, but like Kendra said, he doesn't seem like the county fair type."

Rip nodded, "In most case yes, but Savage has always had a thirst for power, and nothing says power in the 1890s like having a monster at your house and charging people admission to see it."

"I thought you said he kept this monster in a barn?" Martin, whose Linguistic Dysplasia had finally resolved, asked as his eyes lit, "Can you imagine if this beast is real? What that could mean for those who are trying to prove that evolution exists? It could join the ranks of Bigfoot and mermaids!"

"That question will have to wait for another time," Rip responded, "Right now we have to head off to the replicator room and make clothes that would be suitable fashion in the late 19th Century."

"Then what?" Leonard asked as he watched the captain head towards his office.

"Isn't it obvious?" Rip asked, "We see the Hodag."

* * *

"Why did we park so far away?" Jax wondered as the team walked along the train tracks towards what they hopped was the town of Rhinelander. "It's not like the Waverider would stick out like a sore thumb. The townspeople are expecting to see a monster later today and besides we have that cloaking thing."

"It's not as simple as that Jefferson," Martin replied to his partner. "There are logging camps all over the place. We needed to find a spot that was not only big enough for the Waverider to land in but was also away from anyone who could have spotted a time machine that clearly does not belong in this period."

"Precisely," Rip added, "Besides think of it this way, you get to witness what the United States was like in the middle of the logging industry."

"Well, I feel like a hobo who's looking for a ride on the wrong tracks," Jax huffed.

"It's not that bad kid," Leonard added, "The bad part is when the cops are on your tails and the train is too far away. That happened the first time Mick and I escaped prison."

"Yeah and the time after that, some psycho tried to strangle a guy in the car ahead of us and we almost got arrested when one of the security guards spotted us through the window," Mick added, "Awe good times."

The two of them stifled a laugh at the memory while Ray asked, "What happened after that? I'm sure the guard searched the car to make sure what he saw was true."

"He did," Leonard replied, "by the time he started, we were long gone."

Jax stopped walking and turned around to face the two criminals before wondering, "How"

"We jumped," Leonard and Mick both answered matter of factly. Just as Jax was about to ask more, Leonard approached him and pushed his shoulder. It didn't hurt, but it was enough to inform the younger half of Firestorm that the two criminals were done reminiscing and didn't want to answer any more questions.

Jax turned around and continued walking with the rest of the group. As he did, he heard Kendra ask, "So do you think that this monster we're about to see is real?"

Sara shrugged as she replied, "Who knows? It wouldn't be the strangest thing we've seen since we started this trip."

Kendra nodded, "That's for sure. If I can reincarnate and turn into a hawk goddess, this Hodag thing can easily just as well exist."

"Very true," She glanced out of the corner of her eye at Ray, who was walking with Martin, Jax, and Rip. "Have you given any thought to what you learned when we were in Salvation?"

"Not really. Between tracking down our younger selves, fighting the Pilgrim, and then jumping here, I've been pretty distracted. But at the same time, I can't seem to get what she said out of my mind. What if she's right?"

"Well I think," Sara started, "that if you listen to her you could be giving up your chance to be really happy during the rest of this life." Kendra nodded and then their conversation ended as the group finally reached what seemed to be the edge of town.

"Great," Leonard started, "We're here, now where's the fair?"

"According to Gideon, it should be located in a small field by the main train station," Rip answered.

"So where do go from here?" Jax wondered.

Mick looked around them for a bit and then said, "These tracks should lead us right there. Logging towns usually only had one railroad running through it."

"That's correct," Martin added, shocked at Mick's sudden knowledge of railroads and the logging industry. "And given the name of this town, I'd assume that their railway of choice, if they have more than one, would be the North Shore Railway."

"How would you possible know that?" Jax asked while holding his head, apparently his partner had to think long and hard about that little tidbit of knowledge.

"I wrote a paper on the company during my undergraduate studies and ever since Gideon told us the name of the town, I've been wondering why it sounded so familiar." The physics professor answered while smirking, "It came to me while we were discussing where to find the train station."

"Lovely," Leonard added as he made his way to the front of the group, "Let's go. The heat is really starting to get to me."

"You could always ice yourself again," Sara said as she started to follow behind him, "I'm sure that would keep you nice and cold."

"I don't suppose now is a good time to tell you guys that it is believed that the Hodag breathes fire?" Rip asked from out of the blue.

"Awesome!" exclaimed Mick as he made his way past the captain and started to lead the others down the tracks towards the small logging town.

"Nice to see that some parts of him haven't changed," Ray added with a smile. The rest of the team either laughed or rolled their eyes and they continued down the tracks.

* * *

"Everyone will get a chance to see The Hodag," a townsperson stated as the Legends got in line, "The wait is just longer than expected. Everyone will see this beast in due time."

"Great," Leonard, who was annoyed at the size of the line, said, "I was hoping to ice Savage and then get the hell out of here."

"Your sentiments couldn't be any more perfect Mr. Snart. Unfortunately for all of us, the chances of Savage being anywhere else but in that tent are slim."

The group that was inside the tent exited and a new one was quickly ushered in. As the previous group walked past the Legends they couldn't help but overhear the conversation the group was having about the beast. "Did you see the horns? They were much longer than I expected!"

"What about that tail! Gene wasn't kidding when it said it like a lizard's."

"Forget about the tail, did you not the eyes? They were fixed on me. Those bright red orbs are forever embossed in my memory!"

"It probably thought you were a white bulldog Ethel. Between that white dress and your short stature, you're not a far cry from one!"

Sara rolled her eyes and asked, "Did I just hear that right? This monster eats dogs?"

"You're correct Ms. Lance. White bulldogs seem to be the Hodag's main food source. In fact, there has been a ban on them in the area for some time now." Rip answered.

"But I wouldn't' take that too literal," Leonard replied, "Because the group before that one was talking about lemons and how the monster is deathly afraid of them."

"Strange," Martin replied while looking up from the newspaper he had found, "According to this, Mr. Shepherd was able to capture the beast by putting chloroform on a long pole and then put the pole in the creature's cave. He apparently keeps it isolated and in the dark so it doesn't realize that it's been captured."

Leonard added, "I'll believe it when I see it."

"Well lucky for you," Sara started, "it looks like we're up next."

The Legends made their way into the already crowded tent and stood towards the back as a man stepped out from behind the curtains. They couldn't tell if the man was Savage, so they listened intently as he started his speech, "Hello. You are about to see the Hodag! But first, I must warn you not to get too close. If the beast senses your presence it will immediately try to attack. If you are too close, it could easily bite or scratch you. If you don't believe me, you'll have to come over to my house sometime and see just how many clothes its razor sharp claws have destroyed." A collective gasp went through the crowd and the Legends did their best to act surprised. Sure, they had a clothing replicator that could make them clothes whenever they needed new ones, but since they were from the future they needed more than shredded clothes to prove that the beast was real. That and that didn't help them at all in figuring out if Savage created it. "Also," the man continued, "You need to keep your distance so the beast doesn't realize that it's been captured. If it does, then it will try to escape. It took myself as well as the help of professional bear wrestlers to capture it before. I don't know what would be needed to capture it a second time."

"Mr. Shepherd," someone in the front of the crowd asked, "How do you feed the beast if there are no white bulldogs in town?"

He pauses for a second and steps towards the crowd, allowing the Legends to finally see his face. Sara is the first one to stifle a laugh. If Savage is involved anyway in showcasing the monster to the fairgoers, he is not the one who claims to have captured it.

"To keep things between us," the man finally replies, "I just feed it raw meat. Whatever I can find that is rotten and unsuitable for us to eat. Feel free to drop some off if you come across any."

The lady laughs and so do some others in the crowd. The Legends take that moment to let out the laughs they have been holding in. This, in their opinion, is the biggest blunder Rip has made so far. Soon, the group is allowed to peer behind the draped curtains at The Hodag. When it's finally the Legends turn, a few of them glance at the monster in interest while others, mostly Rip and Leonard, decide to take advantage of the opportunity to talk to Mr. Shepherd.

"When did you first see the beast?" Rip asked.

Mr. Shepherd laughed, "You must not be from around here. I've told this story a thousand times already. I saw it while I was walking through the woods a few years ago. I couldn't believe what I was seeing, I thought it was a small dinosaur. I crouched down and tried to see if it would come closer to me. It didn't but I was still able to observe it for a while. It had the head of a frog, the grinning expression of an elephant, short legs with claws on its feet and its back and tail was covered in spears. I knew immediately that this beast could pose a threat to the city. Because of that, I asked for townspeople to help me catch it."

"And you did," Leonard added.

Gene shook his head as he added, "Not that one. We used dynamite to try to lure it out of its cave and it was killed in the process. This one" he pointed towards the darkened cage behind him, "I was able to capture last year. I've been keeping it in my barn ever since."

"Fascinating," Martin exclaimed while joining the conversation. "That must have taken a lot of courage."

"It did," Gene replied, "but I wanted to capture it in order to keep my city safe. Who knows how much ruckus it could have caused."

"A modern day hero," Sara said while doing her best to flirt with him. Leonard couldn't help but smirk at her as she continued on with her ploy to get more information. He always loved watching her dig for information. She always knew how to back her prey into a corner, "but it's a shame that we can't see him up close. It's too dark and I can only see his eyes."

"Sorry Miss. It's better that way." Mr. Shepherd added.

"I have a question about those bear wrestlers that helped you," Rip started, "Was one of them by any chance named Vandal Savage? He's an old friend that we're trying to track down."

Mr. Shepherd shook his head, "No I have never heard of anyone by that name. But he does sound like an intriguing fellow."

"Eugene," a voice was heard from behind them, "The next group is ready." The group turned towards the entrance of the tent and Kendra let out a small yelp of surprise. Standing there in broad daylight was Vandal Savage himself. He smiled at the group as Kendra quickly hid behind Mick, who was still staring behind the curtains waiting for the beast to breathe fire at him. "You guys seems very fascinated with the monster, but we have many more people who are anxiously waiting to see it."

"Yes. Mr. Petty is right," Gene replied, "you folks must be going. I know that you probably only traveled here for a chance to see the Hodag," He smiled with delight as he added, "But you must be going. If you ever find yourself here again, please stop by. If the Hodag is in a good mood, you just might be able to see it again."

"Don't you worry, Eugene," Vandal added, "I have a feeling that they will be around for a while."

"Excellent. Now you must be going so the next group can enter. I want to be able to have as many people as possible see the Hodag while it is in a good mood." Gene said. The group quickly thanked him and they made their way out of the tent. They immediately found a deserted part of the fairground and then started planning what to do next.

"Well we can't attack him while he's running the exhibit," Martin started, "We'll be exposed."

"I wouldn't be too sure about that professor," Leonard said, "All it took was one look for me to figure out that monster was nothing but a piece of hardwood. It clear that these townspeople will believe anything."

"Be that as it may, Mr. Snart. I agree with Mr. Stein." Rip added, "This town is getting enough attention as it with people coming from all over to see the monster, whether it exists or not. The last thing the town needs is to get even more attention because a man of fire and a winged demigoddess appeared out of nowhere and started attacking a fairgoer."

"Hey," Jax and Kendra both replied.

"Well, Well, Well," Vandal said as he approached him, "I thought you looked familiar Gareeb and it's nice to see you again Chay-Ara. Now what do I owe the pleasure to this time?"

"While, when I heard that a monster was on a display, I knew that you had to be involved somehow," Rip stated.

Vandal smiled as he replied, "Yes. I wish it was my handiwork but it was all Mr. Shepherd's. I wasn't even in town when the beast was captured, but I figured that I should help him when it came to showing it off. It's always good to be on the right side of history."

"Yes and the money doesn't help either," Rip quickly added.

"Exactly Gareeb. See, sometimes we think alike." He replied.

Rip glanced around the fairgrounds to see how many civilians were still there before saying, "Well we best be off. We came here to see everything we needed to."

"I thought you would have learned Gareeb, I don't stay in one place for too long. As much fun as it is watching everybody fawn over the Hodag, it gets old quick. I don't see myself staying in Rhinelander much longer." Vandal added, "Since you haven't tried to kill me yet, I guess that means goodbye until next time."

"Yes, until next time." Rip added with distaste in his words. Satisfied with his work, Vandal gave the group his sinister smile and then walked back to the tent. Once he was out of hearing range, Rip said, "Let's get back to the ship and plan our next move." The group nodded eagerly. Between the long wait to see the Hodag and the confrontation with Vandal, it already had been a very long day. They were ready to be back on the Waverider.

Turns out, their next move wasn't needed. Vandal Savage had found the Waverider later that night and with no need to hide their futuristic technology, they attacked him right away. But without the dagger they had to resort to temporarily killing him once again. Normally, they would not had gone to the trouble of coming up with a cover story for why Savage had suddenly gone missing but they decided to do so in this case. After spending the afternoon at the fair, they knew that the town was very gullible and they decided to make it look as if another Hodag was in the area. After sending Leonard and Mick to break into the building where the census records were kept, they were able to track down where Gene Shepherd lived. They then allowed Kendra to hawk out and leave scratches all over Savage's clothes. Once that was done, they left his body in the woods behind Mr. Shepherd's house.

The team figured that if Mr. Shepherd ever found the body, he would have an excuse to create another Hodag and achieve even more fame. Leonard, still in disbelief that some of his teammates believed the monster to be real had broken into the barn while the others were hiding Savage's body. He then made sure that the whole team saw the monster for what it was, a fake. Jax, Martin, and Mick turned out to be the most disappointed while the others seemed not to care that much about it. "You still have to give this guy props," Martin recalled later that night on the Waverider, "He carved up a log and put wires on it so he can have others move it when he puts it on display. That's actually pretty smart in my book."

"I don't see what the big deal is," Leonard added, "It's just another hoax, it'll fade away soon enough."

"I think that you're just mad that you didn't think of it first. You are a crook after all," Sara said which ended the conversation for good.

Mission after mission passed and any lingering thoughts of the Hodag disappeared until they had some downtime while traveling in the temporal zone so they could make some repairs to the ship. It was only some minor things that couldn't be put off any longer, a few parts that needed to be replaced and a few welds needed to be touched up on. Not being able to remember the last time they had a break, the team took full advantage of their downtime. Sara used that time to train and dragged Kendra along for a session or two. Ray kept busy by making adjustments to his suit while Leonard and Mick tinkered with their guns. Martin was pleased that he was able to sit down and read the books that he had found in Rip's study. They differed in subjects but he loved it. He could sit down with a great piece literature one day and sit down with a book on philosophy the next. It was like his own personal library and he took full advantage of it.

Jax, of course, loved making repairs and was happy that he could help, but his psychic connection with Stein got in the way some days. Depending on what he was reading, it would cause Jax to get massive headaches and he did everything in his power to make them go away. Sometimes that meant sleeping them off and other times it meant making his way to the entertainment room and finding a mind numbing show to watch. He still couldn't believe that the Waverider had a room that looked like a giant theater, the way Rip was always making them go from mission to mission, it made him believe that Time Masters usually didn't have a lot of spare time to watch movies.

He happened to find the show just by coincidence. He was scrolling through the list of the TV shows that he could watch, which was always changing with accordance to what time they were possibly hovering over, and saw _Scooby Doo._ He decided to watch it because he loved that cartoon growing up and he figured that it would annoy Stein while he was in the middle of reading about whatever had made his head hurt that day. He wasn't sure how many episodes he had watched, but soon he wasn't even two minutes into a new one when a very familiar name: Gene Shepherd. "Wait a minute," he said as he paused the show and rewound it, he was grateful that they were hovering over a time that had DVRs because he played back the scene over and over again. The first few times, he thought he must have been hearing it wrong but it turned out that he wasn't and he decided to let the scene continue on. Soon, he saw a very familiar looking green monster appear on the screen as the Gene Shepherd character said, "I give you the Hodag of Horror!"

He couldn't believe it and started laughing like a little kid. It got so bad that it eventually distracted Martin who started to make his way to the entertainment room and got the other team members to join him as well. He kept running into them and saying, "Sorry Jefferson keeps laughing and saying _I can't believe it the Hodag._ I can't get it out of my head."

Soon, the whole team had gathered around the large TV and Jax insisted that they watch the episode from the beginning. As the show progressed, the whole team began to either laugh or in Leonard's case, roll their eyes. Once the episode was over, he was the first to speak up, "I can't believe it. Did the truth actually never come out? He didn't cover it up very well, it was bound to get discovered as a hoax."

"Who know?" Kendra started, "Maybe discovering Savage's body was enough to keep the myth going."

"Gideon," Sara called.

"Yes Ms. Lance?"

"Can you do a search on The Hodag and whether or not it exists?"

"Why certainly," she replied. There was silence for a few minutes and then the A.I. responded, "The Hodag was a hoax, only discovered so after the Smithsonian wanted to study it and was ready to travel to Rhinelander to do so. That happened in the early 1900s. There is more to report, should I go on?"

"Yes please," Jax and Ray both said while Martin tried to hide the fact that he let out a little squeal of excitement.

"The city of Rhinelander has adopted the Hodag as the mascot of the city. It is also the High School's mascot and many sculptures of it can be found throughout the city. In fact, many businesses and events are even named after it. It appears to be a sign of pride for the locals."

Leonard rolled his eyes as he got up, "Great, now I have another reason never to go back to Wisconsin."

"But I thought you liked it there because it was cold 10 months out of the year?" Sara wondered.

Leonard paused for a second and then added, "Good point. But other than that, I bet there isn't very much to steal. I'd get bored fast."

"Not if you got in the business of stealing hundred year old cheeses," Jax replied.

The rest of the team laughed as Leonard, having had enough about the hoax that apparently transformed a town into a tourist destination, made his way out of the room. What he missed after he left was the team deciding to travel back to Rhinelander once they were done with their mission and go on a "Hodag Hunt" in order to find all the sculptures and too annoy him one last time. It was the first of many events they would eventually plan in order to stay in touch and hang out once they no longer saw each other every day. And after carrying on the tradition for a few years, it would turn out to be the reunion that the team enjoyed the most.

* * *

 **Hope you guys liked it! In case you're wondering, the story of the Hodag and Gene Shepherd is real. It's the mascot of my hometown and yes it was on an episode of Scooby Doo Mystery Inc. The episode is called "The Hodag of Horror."**

 **If you enjoyed the fic, please leave a review! I always appreciate it!**


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